Introducing Braylen Scott...

We FINALLY landed in Cleveland at 9pm...not bad considering we didn't have a flight till about 2pm! I immeditely checked my phone the second we could turn them on and saw this text: "the little guy decided to make his apperance!" What? We missed it? I had a quick flash of sadness that we weren't at the hospital for our son's birth, but that quickly subsided and turned into sheer excitement and joy!

Waiting for our luggage and getting a rental car seemed to take an eternity. We could not get to the hospital fast enough! We FINALLY arrived at the hospital a little after 10p and immediately went to our birthmom's room to meet our little guy.

Introducing Braylen Scott...



Born October 30, 2012 at 7:31pm

6lbs 13oz

19 1/2 inches long

 

 

 

 

 

Even though we didn't make it to the hospital in time for his birth, Braylen was only a few hours old when we first got to lay our eyes on him and we have been in love ever since. We thank God every day for bringing this precious boy into our family.

 

The hospital was full that night because they had had so many deliveries during the storm so we were unable to stay the first night. We spent a few hours with our sweet baby boy and then had to pull ourselves away to go find a hotel for the night. Hardest. Night. Ever. I hated not being able to be with my baby boy- I couldn't wait to get up the next morning and rush to the hospital!

 

Nearing the Due Date

I know many of you know the feeling...the waiting feeling when your baby is due very soon. We too experienced that feeling, but our waiting was a little different. When you are pregnant you KNOW how you are feeling, you KNOW if you are getting close to going into labor. When you are adopting, you are waiting, but you DO NOT KNOW if you are close or not. We had a due date- October 29th, but we didn't have many more details than that.

Our birthmom would text us every once in awhile with updates, but the week prior to her due date she hadn't progressed much...she mentioned that if she hadn't delivered by 3 days after her due date that they would induce her, but that was about all we knew. The waiting continued...

Monday, October 29th (the due date) came and went with no news. BUT, Hurricane Sandy had appeared and was causing problems even into Ohio. Maybe, just maybe the storm would cause enough changes in the weather to send her into labor?!? We could only hope...

Tuesday morning we awoke to news of large power outages, flooding and high winds in the Cleveland area. Hmmm....what do we do? We wanted so much to just be in Ohio- even if it was just to wait so we wouldn't miss anything. But, our social worker said we couldn't head that way until our birthmom went into labor and was being admitted to the hospital. Bummer.

 

This is Lake Erie near Cleveland during the storm...

Around noon I had given into the idea that there would be no baby today...that is, until about 1:30 when I received a text from our birthmomther. She was in labor and headed to the hospital!!! YAY! Quentin and I frantically began throwing clothes in a suitcase while my Dad go online to search for flights for us. Um...did I mention there was a hurricane that caused all kinds of problems across the east coast? Cleveland airport wasn't accepting incoming flights until 3:00pm, flights through Chicago were out due to major airline delays and flights through Nashville were being cancelled due to snow. Great.....

My Dad eventually found us a flight leaving Kansas City at 3:20pm, but we had to go through Atlanta. I didn't even care- just get us to Ohio!! During our trip to the airport and during our layover in Atlanta we continued to receive text updates from our birthmom as she was progressing. Please just let us get there safe and sound!

Weekend #2

As I mentioned before, Quentin and I did the legwork for searching for the perfect baby furniture last weekend. Thankfully, my family decided to come to town this weekend to make the final decision. My Mom and I left the boys to watch college football while we went on the baby furniture search.

After looking at a few options, Mom and I decided on the perfect crib, dresser and chair for the nursery. Success!!

We headed back to the condo to drop off the furniture when we got a phone call from the boys that the garage door was broken. The boys had walked to a nearby bar to watch a little football and had planned on coming back in the house through the garage. It's a little hard to enter your house through the garage when the garage door is broken. My Mom had driven us so we didn't have keys to the house either. Of course, neither of us have our landlords phone number so we were forced to call a locksmith on a Saturday afternoon. Luckily, he got there quickly, but unluckily, he charged $125! Seriously, $125?  Quentin and I have learned our lesson. We now carry not only the garage door opener, but also keys to the front and back door.

After we finally got into the condo, Mom and I left the boys to put together the crib while we went out to do a little more shopping. We were a few blocks away when I received a phone call from our renters. They had locked themsleves out of their condo also! Oops. Lucky for them I was nearby and went over and unlocked the door for them. Crazy that it happened to both of us on the same day!

Mom and I then made our way to Pottery Barn for success #2 of the day...baby bedding!

Yay! Baby J's room is starting to come together in just 2 weeks time.

Social Media {Silence}

Many of you have been asking why my blog has been so very silent when we have such exciting news to share with the world. So, here is your answer...

When we found out that we were chosen by a birthmother to parent her baby boy we were over the moon excited...we wanted to tell everyone we had ever met; however our social worker had other plans. She suggested to us that we tell just a few people and avoid social media completely. Um, what?!? You want me to not mention on my (adoption) blog that we are going to be parents in a few short weeks. Um...can I keep my mouth shut? Only time will tell...

I understand her reasoning. The birthmother has picked us, but she could change her mind. She could change her mind up until 72 hours after birth. That is a looong time for me to keep quiet, but I get it. The more people I tell = the more people I have to tell if something goes wrong. I have faith that everything is going to go as planned. I HAVE to have faith. I HAVE to trust that our birthmother will keep her word. I HAVE to believe that this little boy is the perfect child for us. BUT, I also HAVE to be prepared in case our adoption does not go as planned. We have had a lot of up's and down's in our journey to become parents and I HAVE to be prepared for whatever happens. Whatever happens is God's plan for us and I HAVE to trust in him that we are taking the right path with our birthmother.

I was telling this to a few friends the other day and they suggested that I continue to write my blog so I can keep track of our journey, but not post to the website until it is "official". So, I will continue to type for the next few weeks and when the time is right there will be 6 weeks worth of postings show up within a few minutes.

Happy Reading...

Meeting our birthmother

On October 5th we travelled to meet our birthmother. We woke up early Friday morning to catch a plane to Ohio. I was so anxious and nervous I thought I was going to be ill. Thank God that Quentin was able to remain cool and collected the entire trip. From the airport we had about a 40 minute drive. Quentin did his best to calm me down, but he wasn't very successful. I made him promise to do most of the talking in the beginning in case I couldn't say a word. We were the first to arrive and shortly after the social worker arrived. It was so nice to be able to talk to her for a few minutes before the "big meeting". I felt a little calmer, but was still incredibly nervous.

Our birthmom came to meet us and brought her aunt and son for support. After meeting her, my nerves quickly subsided. Our birthmom is absolutely amazing. She loves this baby so very much, but knows she is not in a position to parent another child. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this decision was for her. I cannot imagine how many sleepless nights were spent coming to this conclusion. She has spent so much time and effort in making a plan for this child to have a better life. She is truly selfless and is looking out for the best interests of both of her children. She is a very true example of the love a mother has for her children. I know that she will do great things in her life and I can only hope that this baby boy will carry on the selfless love and devotion that his birthmother has. We are so very honored and blessed that she has chosen us to raise her son.

In just a few short weeks we will be travelling back to Ohio to meet our new baby boy. We are so very blessed and excited!!

Our trip to Ohio was an incredible experience and one that we will never forget!

October Jitters

I AM SO EXCITED...and nervous...and jittery this week. On Friday we are travelling to Ohio to meet our birthmother! YIKES! We are meeting her and her social worker for lunch. It's just lunch- no biggie, right? But, I can't help but have all kinds of crazy thoughts. I know she has already picked us, but I cannot help but think, "what if she hates us?" What if?

I know this is ridiculous, but I am already planning in my mind what I am going to wear (or more importantly, what Q is going to wear), what we are going to talk about, what questions I should/shouldn't ask and what kind of gift I can bring her. I am a planner- I can't help it, but I need to just go with the flow on this one...I just need to keep telling myself that the next few days!

Lots of prayers as we travel and meet the woman who is giving us the greatest gift we can ever imagine. I do not even have the words to describe how very thankful we are for her. Maybe that is what I am most nervous about- how do you say thank you to someone who is giving you such an amazing gift?

Here's praying that everything is picture perfect.

Baby, Baby, Baby!

Most of you find out you are having a baby and have 9 long months to prepare. 9 MONTHS to think of names, decorate the nursery, find a doctor, find daycare, register and shop for the baby.

We, on the other hand, have 6 little WEEKS to prepare for our baby boy. Yikes- 6 weeks?!?

It's hard to know where to begin when everything is dropped on you at once. You want to enjoy the time realizing you are going to become parents, but you also want to make sure everything is ready for when he arrives. I am a planner- I want everything to be done and in its place. It's kinda hard to be a big planner with only a little over a month to prepare, but I am doing my best. And...what happens if he decides to arrive early? Gotta get things done fast! The countdown is on...

On another note, please keep us in your prayers. There are still many things that can happen before we are able to bring our baby boy home. Even though the birthmother has chosen us, she cannot sign custody over to us until 72 hours after birth. She could still change her mind. We have been praying and have a good feeling that she is serious and committed to giving the baby up for adoption, but there is still that little chance that something could change.

Shopping with the hubby

Quentin got the joy of spending the weekend shopping for baby stuff with me. I drug him to all corners of the city to check out furniture and baby gear. We hit Nebraska Furniture Mart, Babies R Us, USA Baby, Buy Buy Baby and Target. Many of you know how very much my hubby likes to shop so you can imagine how excited he was to visit all these great stores. He did a great job pretending to notice the difference between cribs, but at the end of the day I think he thinks, "a crib is a crib."

We had done a little research prior to being matched so we were able to pick some things out pretty quickly. But, a girl still has to comparison shop and search for the perfect furniture! We had a successful weekend and were able to begin our registry and narrow down our furniture to a few choices.

Thanks to my hubby for being a good sport. At the end of the weekend, he did mention that maybe furniture was something I should look at with my Mom. :)

We got...THE PHONE CALL!!!!!

September 11th started out like any other day. It was a Tuesday- Quentin and I were both working. I hardly ever answer my phone when it is a number that I don't recognize- especially when I am at work, but for some reason that day when my phone started ringing, I answered. I am so thankful that I did because it was a phone call that would change everything. Laurie from our adoption agency was on the other end of that phone call with some exciting news...we have been matched!! September 11th was the day that we learned that we were going to be parents to a baby boy who is due October 29th!

We listened as she told us the details of the situation of the adoption and I was in such shock that I don't think I was processing anything that she said. Luckily, she sent everything by email later that evening so I could actually sit down and go through it all. Even though the birth mother had picked us, we still had to agree to the adoption as well. After spending the evening looking through all the information we decided that our answer was definitely YES!

Wait, what?!? We are going to be parents in 6 weeks? We have been waiting and praying for this to happen for so long that I think we are now in shock! You would think we would be completely prepared, but nothing can prepare you to get that phone call. That day we probably felt every possible emotion- excitement, fear, shock, nervousness, more excitement- you name it, we felt it.

October 29th can't get here soon enough!

{Rewind}

As most of you know by now, we have recently had some VERY big news to share! I haven't been posting on the blog during this process so now that everything is official I am going to attempt to rewind and start from the beginning.

Happy Reading...